Nikos Dendias: Recognition of historical truth is necessary to avoid repeating crimes against humanity

ArmInfo. Greek Minister of National Defense Nikos Dendias expressed the conviction that recognition of the historical truth is necessary in order to avoid repeating crimes against humanity.

"Our thoughts today are with the Armenians in Greece and across the globe as we honour the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. Recognition of the historical truth is necessary in order to avoid repeating crimes against humanity," Nikos Dendias wrote on his Twitter account on the occasion of the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, publishing a photo of his visit to the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex in Yerevan.

109 years ago, Turkiye  perpetrated the Genocide of the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire.  Over 1.5 million Armenians were massacred based on their nationality. The Armenian genocide is recognized and condemned by many countries of the world and influential international organizations. The parliament of Uruguay was the first to officially condemn the massacres of Armenians (1965). The extermination of the Armenians was officially recognized as genocide (according to international law[177]) and also condemned by France (1998, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2012, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland - National Council (lower house of parliament), Sweden, Russia (1995), Poland , Lebanon (2000), Italy, Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia, Cyprus, Argentina (2 laws, 5 resolutions), Venezuela, Chile, Canada (1996, 2002, 2004), Vatican, Bolivia (2014), Austria (2015), Luxembourg (2015), Brazil (2015), Paraguay (2015), Germany (2016), Czech Republic (2017), Portugal (2019), USA (in 35 states by law), Latvia.  The Armenian Genocide was recognized by the European Parliament (1987, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2015), the parliamentary coalition of South American countries (Mercosur), the UN Subcommission on the Prevention of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities, the Parliament of Latin America (2015). Recognition of the Armenian genocide is not officially a prerequisite for Turkey's entry into the EU, but some authors believe that Turkey will have to do so on the path to EU membership.

The Turkish Republic spends heavily on PR denial campaigns and donates to universities that provide credibility to the Turkish position. Whenever parliaments or governments of different states discuss the recognition of genocide, Turkey threatens them with diplomatic and trade sanctions and repression of its own minorities.  In order to destroy traces of the physical presence of Armenians in Turkey, monuments of Armenian architecture in the country are systematically destroyed.

Deniers' arguments are usually modifications of one of the following statements: the massacre of Armenians never happened in the Ottoman Empire; the death of Armenians occurred due to negligence from hunger and disease during their expulsion from the combat zone; there was no deliberate policy on the part of the Young Turks to exterminate the Armenians; The death of the Armenians was a consequence of the civil war in the Ottoman Empire, which also killed many Turks.